Listening 38 – Listen for specific words

My family didn’t take a ton of vacations when I was up, but my parents would usually save up and take us all on a big trip once every two or three years. One time we went to the state of Colorado for a camping trip, and we went up one of the highest in the U.S. And another year we went to California, where my parents had lived at one point – and we still have some there. And then there was the time that we went to Florida for New Year’s.

We went together with my best friend’s family. My parents and her parents have known each other for more than years, and so she and I have been close pretty much ever since we were born. And our families always spend New Year’s together – usually at their house, which isn’t terribly thrilling in the winter – but one year our fathers decided to take us all down .

Now, I don’t remember much about what we actually did in Florida, except for taking a ride through the wetlands and seeing the alligators. But the of getting there was kinda funny.

Our flight was on December 26^th, so the day after Christmas, and the airport was packed with holiday . When we got to the gate we found out that the airline had horribly overbooked the flight, and there weren’t enough for everyone. So people were arguing with and even shouting at the … it was a mess.

Luckily, the eight of us – my family and my friend’s family – were able to the plane and get our seats. After the plane was full, the made an announcement saying that if anyone would voluntarily give up their seats and take a later flight, they would get a voucher for a free round-trip ticket anywhere in the . Nobody moved a muscle.

A couple minutes later, they made another offering TWO free round-trip tickets – and still, nobody budged. When they upped the offer to three free tickets, my dad and my friend’s dad started eyeing each other and if we should take them up on it. And when they offered four free tickets per person, it was just too good to up – and we all sprang up out of our seats.

So they put us on another flight, which wasn’t as , a few hours later – and they even gave us extra snacks while we were waiting. We weren’t even out on anything, because it happened to be raining in Florida on that day.

But there’s one last twist to the story. We had a grand total of 32 free round-trip tickets, and of course we were excited to use them. Well, sadly, not long after we got , that airline went bankrupt and the tickets became worthless. I think my dad hung onto the vouchers for a couple of years just on the off-chance that another airline would take them, but no such .